Miriam and Mirth
by Brynhild GoUrL
Summary: A desperate mother hides her child from an evil power.
1. Desperation

Note to the reader:  
  
In this novel I will be using terms from other languages. All words and the place where I found them are listed in the Glossery below.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Preface:  
  
She is a woman, much like any one of us, but without our everyday electronics. She has not even a flashlight to light her way, but carries a torch in one hand while holding her infant close with the other. Quickly, she hurries through the forest, mindless of the beating rain and the head-splitting thunder overhead. She keeps an eye on the full moon, a quickly gets to the cave without incident. After lighting a small fire, she checks her child for any signs of pnemonia. The youngling is dry and well and, surprisingly, happily babbling at the thunder and lightning. Maybe not so surprising, the woman thought with a soft smile, when you think of who the father is.  
  
The woman knew she had to hurry. Today was the last full day in the tenure from Her. The child had to be adopted into a family or else produced for Her by noon, tomorow. She had tried to give the baby to a number of families nearby, but not one of them would adopt a Gypsywoman's girl-child born out of wedlock. The woman knew, if she gave Her the baby, She would quickly destroy the child. That left only one thing to do.  
  
The woman took a few herbs from her pouch and tossed them in the fire. With all her power she sent out a spell. A spell to protect the child, to send the child not only over the great ocean, but also through time, to a place where other greek gypsies were, to where the girl-child could grow up safely without the threat from Her. She touched the gray dragon around the child's neck, simaler to the green one around her own neck, and murrmered to the pewter pendant, "Keep her safe, Mirth.". Then the spell was complete. A rogue wind doused the fire and swirled dry leaves around the cave. When all settled down the woman breathed a sigh of relief, mixed with sorrow. The child was gone.  
  
-*-  
  
"Shhh..." the eldest gypsy, Tinka, whispered in Calo as she held her hand in the air. Immediently the drums stoped beating, the bells stoped ringing, and the dancing feet ceaced to pound the earth as the Romani listened to the sounds around them. After a moment, the mournful cry of a baby again floated on the wind towards them.   
  
"Come." the Romni murmmered and left the fireside. The Roms lit torches and the rest of the gypsies followed the Romni into the woods. Following the moon-lit path they walked to the raveen and there, in the moss patch by the ledge, lay a girl babe. The youngling's cries were quickly hushed as Tinka picked up the child and held her close. Thick chestnut curls spilled out from underneith the dark green cloth she was wrapped in. Around the infant's neck was a simple black cord, on which a gray dragon charm hung with it's wings unfurled. Tinka traced three tiny moles on the child's chest, arranged like the stars in Orion's belt.  
  
"What use do we have for this abondoned girl-child?" One of the Roms spoke. "She might be a bad omen, appearing on a full moon with a dragon around her neck." another said. "She is a gaji, not one of us." someone proclaimed. "We should toss this bad omen into the raveen." As the Gypsies caught on to this idea, one of the younger romni spoke, "Wait. Let Tinka read the girl-child's future. If the youngling is truly an evil spirit, it will not be able to hide it's true nature from her." The other gypsies agreed.  
  
The old Romni closed her eyes as she prophesised the babe's fate. "Ahh, yes. This girl-child shall be a great traveler, roaming not only over land and sea, but also through time and space. The dragon is her symble and her guardian, Orion of the Stars. Her name shall be..." Tinka open her own eyes and gazed into the baby's mossy-brown eyes, "...Miriam."  
  
"Shall we keep her?" One of the romni asked.  
  
Tinka's eyes clouded with sorrow. "No." she spoke after a while. "She is half gaji. She must be given to them to be raised."  
  
But before the child was given to a visiting couple, Marishka, a romni with a streak of selfishness in her, stole the dragon from the girl's neck and sold it to a passing trinketman.  
  
  
To be Continued...  
  
~~~~~  
  
Glossery:  
  
Calo: One language of the Gypsies. "Being a Green Mother" by Piers Anthony  
  
Gaji: a female non-gypsy. "Gypsy Folk Tales" by Diane Tong  
  
Rom: an adult male Gypsy. "Gypsy Folk Tales" by Diane Tong  
  
Romani: Another language of the Gypsies. Sometimes used as a synonym for 'gypsy'. "Gypsy Folk Tales" by Diane Tong  
  
Romni: An adult female Gypsy. "Gypsy Folk Tales" by Diane Tong  
  
~~~~~  
  
AN: I wrote this several years ago as a beginning, hoping to expand it. Since then my muse has inconveniently forgotten the plotline I had in my head, and I haven't written anymore of it. Someday I might expand on it, but don't hold your breath. (If this beginning inspired you, you might perhaps leave a memento in the little box below, and perhaps your inpiration will inspire me... a girl can always hope...)   
  
  



	2. Author's Note

Okay, this is where things get a little strange. Try to hang on :)  
  
  
I found this (yay!) today, and it seems to be the continuation of the earlier chapter. I kinda remember writing this several years ago, so I'm sorry if the writing method is kinda weird. I will be someday re-writing this into a more readable version, and also adding more about how Miriam and Mirth got back together. But for now, this is all I have. Dig or dis, just let me know. Suggestions for how to continue this story are more than welcome :) Just leave a little memento in the box below...  
  
  
  



	3. Just like everybody else...

Miriam was just a regular girl. Well, she liked country music, brussel sprouts /w ketchup, and dragons, but other than that, she was somewhat normal. So it wasn't surprising that one day when she was going to a country singer's show, that she saw a dragon pendent hanging on a simple black cord. The dragon was about an inch high with two claws and two unfurled wings and was made out of a gray pewter. So she bought it and named him Mirth 'cause she learned by reading Anne McCaffery's books that all dragon names ended with -th. And that's how Miriam and Mirth got together and they were usually known as M&M.  
  
There were two somethings that M&M kept secret from everyone except each other. They were that Mirth could come alive and fly off Miriam's neclace, and that they could mind-speak to each other.   
  
Miriam and Mirth loved to watch tv in the afternoons. Mirth liked fiction shows since he was a mythical creature, while Miriam kinda liked shows with cute guys on them. She especially liked cute guys who were reformed thieves and pratical jokers. So when they were flipping through the afternoon shows and found a show called "Young Hercules", they decided to watch it. The show was set in ancient Greece and was chalk-full of mythology, so Mirth liked it. It also so happened that Hercules' best friend, Iolaus, was an ex-thief and was a total class clown, so Miriam was happy. Miriam sat on the floor with Mirth around her neck and they watched the whole half-hour show without moving, and were there to watch ever episode after that.  
  
Both M&M were sad when the show was cancelled after the first season. They tried watching "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys", but Mirth didn't like it because there weren't as many new plotlines, and Miriam didn't like it 'cause Iolaus was now too old for her and because he kept getting killed and ressurected by Dahok and she couldn't follow everything else that happened to him. So instead they ended up not watching television much at all and instead read books about mythology and time travel. Mirth liked it (obviously), and Mirium liked the idea of the gods and goddesses interacting with mortals.  
  
So they read all they could and sometimes they wrote their own stories. Miriam's family read her writings and that's how Miriam found out about the Writing Evaluation class. All you had to do was send in a manuscript and they would evaluate your writings. In the begining Miriam wasn't too intrested in getting their work criticed, but Mirth wanted to know what might be said about them (because Mirth helped with the storys too). So Mirth got Miriam to agree to send one story in to be evaluated on one condition: it would have to be a brand new story. So M&M put their heads together and got ready to write.  
  
----***----  
  
The deadline was fast approaching for M&M to get their new story in, and Miriam had developed a writer's block that she just couldn't get rid of, so M&M packed up their bags and decided to go camping and hope for an idea. Miriam's bags consisted of her guitar, her CD player with portable little speakers, the collapsible tent, and her big blue backpack stuffed with who knows what (including a change of clothes and dried sweetened cranberries). The only thing Mirth needed was his black cord and he made sure it was around Miriam's neck.  
  
After Miriam had started a little fire, she got out their dinner and started fixing it while Mirth scouted for a perfect marshmallow-toasting twig. Just before Miriam opened the marshmallow bag, M&M heard a twig snap behind them and to the left. Mirth became a pewter pendent as Miriam turned to see a stranger approach them.  
  
An old, hunchback woman leaning on a knobbly cane came out of the dark forest. "It's so cold tonight." she said in a cackly but pleasent voice. "May I share your fire?"   
  
Another ability that Mirth had but M&M didn't tell anyone about was that he could see into stranger's souls and know if they ment harm or not. So Miriam did a quick check with Mirth before inviting the woman to sit and have a marshmallow.   
  
After they ate and enjoyed the warmth from the fire, the woman said, "I thank you child, for your hospitality and I wish to repay it. What is the one thing you want most in the world right now?"  
  
Miriam thought for a sec. Mirth was half-asleep, but awakened when Miriam asked him about her wish. He gave a little dragon shrug in her mind, so she said, "The thing I want most right now is to think of an idea for this story I'm trying to write." And she told the old woman about the writing evaluation class.   
  
The woman nodded and replied, "Hmn. A good wish. I give you this riddle: Once you prove yourself in the three S's against the queen of eyes, you will have your story."  
  
Miriam looked into the fire for a sec before turning back to the old woman, "But what does that mean..." she stopped. The old woman had disappeared!  
  
Miriam was mildly surprised, but not shocked. Many of the old myths involve strangers giving advice or granting wishes after the mortal had proven themselves worthy. She pulled her battery-powered laptop computer out of it's case and onto her lap, flipped it on. Before she forgot, she typed in the riddle the old woman had told her. Miriam closed her eyes and thought to herself (Mirth had fallen asleep as a metal pendent on her necklace). She felt the solid weight of the laptob sitting on her lap, the licks of heat teasing her face and arms and legs as the fire jumped over and around the burning logs, the thrumming pulse from Mirth hanging around her neck, the slight chill of the night breeze flowing around the trees, and she wondered what the riddle ment.   
  
Suddenly, Miriam felt change. The friendly heat from the fire was gone, but she didn't feel cold. The air around her seemed to be slightly dusty and warm, like it was a summer day instead of the middle of Febuary. Mirth felt it too and woke, alert, but did not fly off the necklace.  
  
Miriam opened her eyes.  
  
Now, she was shocked. She was sitting in a small clearing, and it was the middle of the day. Miriam wondered momentarily if she had falled asleep sitting infront of the fire and it was the next day, until she realized there was no fire. There wasn't even the remains of where a fire had been. It was just green, growing grass.   
  
Miriam turned off her laptop and put it and the marshmallows back into her backpack before hefting it onto her back. She took the other small bag that contained the tent, and hid it under a few falled branches. Mirth asked her what she was doing, and Miriam replied that she wanted to find out just what had happened and where they were. So M&M found a path and headed out of the forest.  
  
And were shocked anew. There, laid out infront of them, was the city of Corinth just like in 'Young Hercules'. "This is so unreal." Miriam murmmered and Mirth agreed. "What do you want to do?" Miriam asked him. Miriam kinda wanted to see Iolaus and that involved going to Cheiron's Acadamy. Mirth agreed, hoping that being around Hercules and Iolaus, they would see lots of mythical creatures. But M&M didn't know which direction the acadamy was. Then Mirth thought of something. "Ask..." he mind-spoke to Miriam. "...Jason." she finished the thought with a smile. M&M headed towards the castle.  



	4. Royal Manners

Jason, crowned king of Corinth and best friend of Herc and Iolaus, was sitting on his throne, settling the quibbles that tended to break out in his kingdom. He was only eighteen, so you can imagine how bored he would be, cooped up all day, and how interested he would be when his chief advisor came to him before the next viewing. "You Majesty." he said, "Perhaps you should think again before allowing the following *person* into your presence."  
  
Jason smiled at the over-protective advisor, "Something wrong with him?"  
  
The advisor looked worried, "Her, actually. It's a young woman, but she seems to be from a different kingdom and her ways appear to be a little..." he paused, "...different."  
  
Jason shrugged. "She must have a purpose for coming." he rationalized, "So we must not keep her any longer than nesasary." His gaze shifted to the entrance as the guards announced the mystery girl.  
  
----***----  
  
Miriam lowered her head impusivly as she entered the throne room, and one hand reached up to absently rub Mirth in his metal pendant form. Mirth sent out a reasuring pulsing warmth to both her fingers and her mind, and Miriam relaxed a little. She noticed Jason sitting regaly on his throne, with his chief advisor hovering close to the throne. Mirth was reading her thoughts and mind-laughed in agreement with 'hovering'. A smile crept on her face, and she eyed Jason. He was handsome in person, but not as handsome as she guessed Iolaus must be. Besides, Miriam had absoutly no desire to be a queen. She came to a stop about a yard and a half infront of the throne and waited as Jason glanced her over, head to toe. She had tried to smack some of the dust out of her black jeans and mossy-green tank tee, but hadn't been that successful. The Guards had made her leave her big blue backpack and guitar outside of the room, so there was a big patch on the back of her shirt that had no dust. Miriam smirked as she realized how straggily she must look. Of course, wearing jeans didn't help either.  
  
After a few minutes Miriam realized that she was suppost to go first. She figured she mineswell apologize in advance incase she was or was about to break any of the rules of Corinth. _Mineswell butter him up anyway,_ Mirth thought in the back of her mind. She bowed (since she wasn't wearing a skirt) and said, "Your Royal Highness, I pray you will excuse me if I am breaking any of your rules here. I am but a lone traveler from a distant land, searching for the legendary Cheiron's Acadamy, and was hoping you could point me in the right direction." _Good job._ Mirth mind-whispered.  
  
----***----  
  
  
"The Acadamy is straight down the main road through Corinth." Jason answered. As the mystery girl bowed again and turned to leave, he couldn't help saying, "To please a helpless fool, would you give me the pleasure of your name and that of your home?"  
  
He half-expected this strange girl to leave, but to his suprise she turned and replied, "To please a help*ful* fool and a curious king, I grant you that small pleasure. I am Miriam, of the United States." he watched her bow once more and then exit the room. Jason smiled to himself as he wondered what Herc and Iolaus would think when they saw this strange girl. He made a mental note to check up on his old friends.  
  
----***----  
  
Miriam shrugged on her backpack as she left the castle. "You wanna head there now? We have several hours of sunlight left." Mirth mind-asked her. Miriam glanced at the sky and replied, "Nah. It looks like it's gonna rain soon. We'd better set up the tent and go tomorow." Mirth agreed with her and so M&M headed back into the forest.  
  
----***----  
  
"Hercules..." Iolaus whined half-heartedly, "...Come on, man. Slow down!"  
  
Herc turned to his rain-soaked friend, "Come on, buddy. We're closer to Corinth than to the acadamy. Besides, the storm will be over soon."   
  
As soon as he said that, a huge lightning bolt lit the sky and was followed with an ear-cracking boom of thunder. Iolaus gave his friend an unbeleiving smirk. "Okay, fine." Herc said. "We'll make camp here and make Corinth tomorow."   
  



	5. Rude Awakening

Hercules eyes opened and watched the lightning fill up the sky for a few moments. The thunder was loud, he thought to himself, but it shouldn't have been unusual enought to wake me. He was still wondering what had awakened him when he heard a voice singing on the wind through the storm.  
  
Hercules grabbed a oiled waterproof cloak and after checking that Iolaus was still asleep, he left the small structure they had made and headed towards the voice. As he approached a small clearing, the voice stopped singing. He was momentairaly afraid that the singer had noticed his presence, but he realized that the song had finished. A new song started and he confirmed that it was a girl singing.   
  
"Where have all the good men gone,  
and where are all the gods?  
Where's the streetwise Hercules  
to fight the rising odds?"  
  
Herc was shocked momentarally to hear the girl-voice sing his name. Wondering if he had ever seen the singer before, he peered through the leaves. The first thing he noticed was a large light-blue cloth hanging between trees and covering a medium-large patch of ground from getting wet. Underneith the cloth appeared to be a small silver thin box sitting between two medium silver square boxes, a big black curving box, a darker blue cloth bag, and some really thin boxed stacked and spread beside the silver boxes. That was what seemed to be emitting the music. The second thing he noticed was the girl, dancing in the rain.  
  
The strange girl was clothed in black pants, but they didn't seem to be made of cloth or leather. Her top was a green shirt, but unlike any design Herc had ever seen before. Her hair was stringy, wet, and hanging in dark chestnut curls that swung out as the girl twirled and kicked and did lots of strange footwork.  
  
----***----  
  
Miriam smiled as she danced. She hadn't been able to sleep, so Mirth had suggested that they listen to some music and just like every other time she had ever heard 'Holding out for a hero', she had just had the urge to dance, even in the thunderstorm that was raging. Miriam held out her arm towards the sky and sung the last verse with the cd player.  
  
"Out where the mountains meet the heavens above,  
Out where the lightning splits the sea.  
I could swear there is someone somewhere watching me."  
  
----***----  
  
  
Well, that's all I have. Dig or dis, Suggestions are blood to a vampire =[ Just leave a little sample in the box below...  
  



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